Sustainability Interview With Roy

At The Green Energy Advice Bureau, we love to invest in our superb team! Our full staff base has amazing motivation and work ethic which really shines through to our service delivery!
This time around, we sat down with Roy Moreno, our Head of Sustainability, to find out more about working at The Green Energy Advice Bureau and what it takes to really be called a ‘’sustainable company’’.

1. Tell us a bit about your background…

I’m a half Colombian Geordie, who has lived and worked around the world, some people call me Julio Geordio after the famous Harry Enfield comedy sketch about a Colombian Newcastle United Football player.
I have over 5 years’ experience in the environment and sustainability sector and have been a lifelong promoter of sustainability. I am also a qualified climbing instructor and mountain guide and have worked in the Alps.

2. What would you say is your go-to advice to businesses, in regards to their impact on environment?

Take stock of your operational boundaries and impacts before you start implementing changes, without a proper understanding of the effects your organisation has on the environment how can you confidently justify taking action to improve performance?Incorporate short term goals as well as longer term goals to help keep the work force focussed and motivated, remember sustainability is about incremental positive change and should be communicated and approached in manageable chunks! Communicate in a language your staff members understand. Don’t be scared of tackling sustainability head on, and stand up for sustainability! It’s in everyone’s interests.

3. If being sustainable can save money and make profits – why isn’t everybody doing it?

The primary barriers are attitudes and costs. Sustainability is something that not all people believe in as important to business and too often poor understanding and leadership leads to poor sustainability performance. When combined with the initial costs that some measures require this can compound the negative attitude and perception towards sustainability.
If you are an organisation who is not sure about sustainability, and want to identify cheap effective sustainability improvements we can help you focus your efforts in the areas of your operation that are having the most impact and hopefully help steer your organisation towards a sustainable future.

4. What are current ‘’green’’ product trends at TGEAB?

We have a high demand of energy audits and compliance services with an increasing interest in energy monitoring systems and demand side response services.

5. Is there anything in particular you would like to do to help improve our community?

I live in central Newcastle where there is a lot of homelessness and I recently volunteered at the Peoples Kitchen by carrying out an energy audit and helping serve food to the poorest and homeless in the city.
It made me think that there is a lot more that energy companies can be doing to help people who are marginalised in our society, and it wouldn’t take very much. Support with energy management and energy costs, donations of food and personal time to places like The Peoples Kitchen can make a huge difference to the impact of any charity.
We are working with other charities in the North East and across the country to help improve the livelihoods of local communities and promote sustainable development and alleviate extreme poverty where possible.

6. What would you say is your biggest achievement at TGEAB to date?

In my short time at the company my biggest achievement would have to be the certification of ISO 9001 for quality management. As a small company, it makes us stand out and shows the rest of the World that we comply with international quality standards as defined by the most recognised global standards authority, The International Organization for Standardization.
Certification involved 5 months of design work and required input and coordination with all of our staff members, it was a real challenge as I had limited experience of quality management. It has allowed TGEAB to review and streamline our services and processes and help deliver the best quality services to our clients going forwards.

7. Finally, if you were stranded on a dessert island – what 3 things would you bring?

Camping stove capable of USB charging for my mini-fridge stocked with cold beers whilst I cook. A survivalist like Ray Mears to show me how to survive like a king. A yacht with 24/7 parties and random headlining international DJ’s, in case I get a bit bored of eating seaweed and drinking coconut water.